Bitcoin legitimization and institutionalization has ramped up in response to the recent bull run with investors flocking to access the US$1.89 trillion cryptocurrency market, which exceeded the value of social media giant Facebook this year.

We are witnessing Bitcoin and digital assets making the front cover of the most widely read publications while some of the world’s largest institutions and companies have decided it’s now time to accept that cryptocurrencies are here to stay.

Major players are now investing in the space — Tesla spent US$1.5 billion of its cash reserves to buy Bitcoin and Mastercard announced it would support select cryptocurrencies on the network. 

Even America’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, confirmed they would hold and transfer crypto for asset management clients, with head of custody’s Caroline Butler stating that, “enabling the use of digital assets is critical to transforming the future of custody.” And BNY Mellon’s head of digital assets noted that “there’s an overall sentiment shift with respect to digital assets,” and “digital assets are the future.”

But is the industry ready for global adoption? At the same time, we have million-dollar crypto hacks happening on a near-monthly basis, causing the value of companies to drop by up to 30%.

Digital assets and cryptocurrencies hold great potential, but the industry is nascent. How can investors ensure they are safely purchasing digital assets that won’t get stolen? How do you know you’re allowed to legally own it? There are key questions investors must ask before considering purchasing and adopting digital assets. 

Bitcoin was invented to be a borderless, global currency, accessible by anyone with internet. But while the currency, along with other digital currencies, is technically not restricted by borders, domestic regulations should not be ignored. What may be legal in one country differs from another, and regulations are changing regularly as tax authorities, enforcement agencies and regulators attempt to keep up. 

For example, some prediction markets and cryptocurrency exchanges are banned from the U.S. But in the U.S. you can also buy a Subway sandwich with Bitcoin. In both the U.S. and Canada, Bitcoin is considered a money service business. In Australia, it’s considered an asset for capital gains purposes. China and cryptocurrencies are banned in China, and in Russia it is illegal to use it as a payment for goods and services. Switzerland on the other hand, has welcomed crypto with open arms, establishing its own Crypto Valley. 

Be sure to check the jurisdiction in your home market, and always try to go local. Check the most reputable digital asset providers and whether they are offered in your own country. Find a company that has been around for a while and check its history in the news for hacks and breaches. Evaluate how they responded to it. Did they give the money back if they were hacked? 

It’s advisable to purchase assets from a licensed institution — providers like Coinbase, Gemini, BTSE or Binance are examples of companies who seek to align with regulations where assets can be accessed in different jurisdictions. 

Digital asset legalities differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, so it is important to do your research and identify if it is permitted in your country. Finder has a great resource for country-by-country jurisdictions.

As digital currencies and assets are online, this makes them vulnerable to attack. But there are ways to ensure your assets can remain protected and safe. Counterparty risk should always be considered in a risk management strategy. 

Firstly, you should only be willing to invest in what you are willing to lose. It is not recommended to invest 100% of your assets into crypto. Those who keep 100% of capital on an exchange also have a higher risk of loss. If the exchange gets hacked, you can lose it all. 

When you’re not actively trading, remove them from the exchange with a hardware wallet or custody provider who will protect your assets. While Bitcoin was created to eliminate third party risk, many exchanges hold your private keys, increasing your counterparty risk. 

Check what security the company provides. Do they have the know-how and experience? Or are they another exchange building a security vault themselves opening users to greater potential risk? 

To ensure you’re investing safely, you need to do due diligence on the counterparty. The digital asset provider must have infrastructure that is capable of protecting digital assets. There’s no point purchasing from a company if they are vulnerable to attack. 

And as regulation catches up to the cryptocurrency space, you must ensure that the provider is executing and abiding by know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) procedures. Using reputable companies who abide by these will ensure you’re not illegally purchasing digital assets from an unlicensed regulation provider. 

It is a regulatory requirement to have those disclosures on a website. If a provider isn’t abiding by AML and KYC protocols today, you can pretty much guarantee they will get in trouble with regulators. If not tomorrow, in weeks to come and it’s your money that will be at risk. 

If you choose to select an asset manager to assist in your investment strategies and protection of your assets, ensure they are a licensed entity. Most jurisdictions enact tough laws on asset management licensing. They need to understand and hold key knowledge on how digital assets work, as they differ to fiat. 

Not anyone can be an asset manager — do you research beforehand to see their track record and history in digital asset management. They will have a portfolio of previous and current clients they are working with in safekeeping. Due diligence here is key. 

Check if they are using a reputable KYC partner too. Not all companies offer KYC services that are reputable. Some companies take shortcuts. A reputable KYC platform that uses artificial intelligence like Onfido will remotely verify your identity to ensure your assets are yours, and can perform these checks better than any human. 

Covid-19 has made it nearly impossible for people to meet face to face — a traditional expectation of approving applications through financial service providers. As the world moves to a more decentralized and remote environment, secure identity verification is critical. 

While Bitcoin’s reputation of being used for illicit activity has changed overtime, its use of criminal activity still holds weight. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently highlighted she sees the promise of digital currencies, but states that the use of crypto for terrorism remains a growing problem. 

Investors are demanding access to “clean coins” without tainted histories, so it’s important to find providers who can provide this guarantee. Today, we have innovative crypto analytics technology that can perform a screen on a wallet to ensure coins are not connected to illicit activity. 

Crypto analytics providers like Elliptic have managed to reduce overall illicit activity involved in cryptocurrencies via this technology. Today, illicit activity in Bitcoin accounts for less than 1% of transactions, which is a dramatic reduction from 2012 when 35% of crypto transactions were illicit, according to a 2020 Elliptic report.

Financial institutions and digital asset providers risk significant fines if they knowingly sell tainted coins with an illicit history. Companies who use these compliance controls are reducing laundering and illicit activity via their platforms, meeting regulatory requirements and managing risk for investors. 

If your investment strategy changes from traditional fiat, bonds and stocks to Bitcoin and ETH, check you can access digital assets within the same portfolio rather than needing to go to individual service providers. This eliminates further counterparty risk, additional costs and going through regulatory requirements again like KYC and AML. 

Investing in digital assets does not need to be confusing, overwhelming, or risky if you’re using reputable companies that are incorporating all the necessary protocols expected of a provider. At the end of the day, it’s these providers who include all security, regulatory and diversification protocols and ensure you can have a robust investment strategy. 

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Billionaire investor Mark Cuban remains bullish on the future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, often comparing blockchain technology to the internet's earliest days. He discussed his cryptocurrency portfolio on a recent episode of The Delphi Podcast.

Currently, Cuban's cryptocurrency portfolio consists of 60% bitcoin and 30% Ethereum. The remaining 10% of the portfolio consists of other digital currencies.

Cuban likes bitcoin and Ethereum for different reasons. He disagrees with those who said bitcoin is a currency because he doesn't think it will work. However, he does see it as a store of value and a better alternative to gold. Cuban believes bitcoin will continue to be a better alternative to gold, which is why he bought some and never sold it.

The owner of the Dallas Mavericks also likes Ethereum, but it's for a very different reason than why he likes bitcoin. He thinks ether is the closest coin to being a digital currency because of the smart contracts that run on the Ethereum blockchain. CNBC explains that smart contracts are collections of code that follow certain rules while running on the blockchain.

Cuban said smart contracts changed everything by creating decentralized finance and nonfungible tokens. He added that the technology is why he is excited about cryptocurrency and why he thinks it is "a lot like the internet."

The billionaire investor also believes Ethereum can be adapted over time because developers can improve its capabilities, which makes it more life-like. Cuban wishes he had bought some Ethereum sooner, but he started purchasing it four years ago because he thinks it is the closest to a true currency.

He didn't discuss any of the other cryptocurrencies he owns as the other 10% of his portfolio. However, he did say that there aren't any that he's "just all in on, other than bitcoin and Ethereum" as being an equivalent investment.

In February, he did purchase a small amount of dogecoin for his 11-year-old son. Dogecoin was started as a joke, and Cuban said when he bought some, it was meant to be "fun and educational" for his son while also enabling him to learn more about cryptocurrency.

Dogecoin has received a boost recently from Tesla CEO Elon Musk's tweets. When he initially started tweeting about the cryptocurrency, his tweets were meant to have been a joke, but that appears to have changed.

His most recent tweet about dogecoin proclaimed that SpaceX would "put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon." Some questioned whether that was a joke because he posted the tweet on April Fool's Day, but CNBC space reporter Michael Sheetz took him seriously because the company's first payload into orbit was a wheel of cheese.

As time has gone on, the cryptocurrency space has been marked with drama, from bitcoin's soaring price to the jokes surrounding the creation of dogecoin. More and more institutional investors have adopted the cryptocurrency, and some traditional investment banks are allowing their investors to buy some. Chipotle Mexican Grill even started a contest offering customers a chance to win $200,000 worth of bitcoin and free burritos to celebrate National Burrito Day.

Now the Youa Group is putting the drama of cryptocurrency to the small screen with a TV series called Pumping Time. The series will include some special episodes lasting up to 100 minutes and many regular episodes lasting up to 30 minutes.

It will also include some theatrical presentations. The series will include a variety of real-life situations involving cryptocurrency, including top cryptocurrency exchanges and funds. Well-known CEOs and celebrities in the crypto world will make cameo appearances. The series will also dive into questionable crypto tactics to teach the public about potential risks.

A more stable Bitcoin may bring more institutional investors, says JP Morgan. 

Bitcoin’s falling volatility could attract institutional investors, according to a team of JP Morgan analysts. 

Bloomberg published details of a Thursday report in which JP Morgan described Bitcoin’s recent stability as a potential catalyst for corporate buyers. Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, a strategist at the investment bank, wrote:

“In our opinion, a potential normalization of Bitcoin volatility from here would likely help to reinvigorate the institutional interest going forward.”

The report noted that Bitcoin’s three-month realized volatility had fallen from levels above 90% in February to 86%, while the six-month measure was 73%. 

According to JP Morgan, the asset’s volatility has increased the perceived risk of investing and dissuaded institutions. They also noted that renewed interest in Bitcoin had affected the gold market. The report pointed out that there have been $7 billion of inflows to Bitcoin funds and $20 billion of outflows from exchange-traded funds tracking gold.  

The idea of institutional investors buying into the original crypto has been discussed in the crypto community for years. Signs of mainstream adoption have been clearer than any other period in Bitcoin’s history in recent months, with companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla adding the asset to their balance sheets. This week, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have announced plans to offer their clients Bitcoin exposure. JP Morgan has recently endorsed the asset, too, suggesting that a 1% portfolio allocation in Bitcoin could be an effective hedge. 

The heightened attention surrounding Bitcoin comes as the asset’s price rally pushes the cryptocurrency market close to a $2 trillion market cap. Bitcoin’s run started in earnest when it broke $20,000 on Dec. 16, overtaking JP Morgan in market cap. It’s up almost 200% since then, currently trading at $59,212. 

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China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has stated there is increased interest in its upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, and this could be partly due to the recent surge in bitcoin price.  

According to CNBC on Friday (April, 2, 2021), Wang Xin, the research bureau director at the PBOC believes that more people are becoming aware and paying attention to its digital yuan project, indicating a “very strong interest” in China’s upcoming CBDC project. The PBOC official stated that part of the reason for the digital yuan interest could be attributed to bitcoin’s recent bull rally. 

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency has been on a tear since late 2020, recording several new all-time highs (ATH). Currently, bitcoin is trading at nearly $60,000, having surpassed the figure earlier today. 

Although the PBOC mentions bitcoin price surge as a possible factor for the increased interest in the digital yuan, cryptocurrency remains banned in China. The country is well-known for its anti-crypto stance, following a ban on initial coin offerings (ICO) and its crackdown on cryptocurrency exchange platforms. 

Apart from bitcoin, the PBOC official said that the involvement of central banks globally to create a digital version of their fiat currencies, is another factor fueling interest in the digital yuan. Countries like South Korea , Japan , India , Turkey , Ukraine , Australia , and Canada are involved in researching and creating their CBDCs, with central banks in Asia recording progress. 

A CNBC translation of Wang Xin’s comments in Mandarin reads:

“On one hand, this is related to more and more central banks in the world participating in the development of domestic digital currencies. On the other hand, this (interest) may also be related to the large increase in the price of bitcoin.”

Wang Xin further revealed that there would be more digital yuan trials. China, which began its CBDC research back in 2014, has been involved in extensive trials in different parts of the country. 

One of the most common methods of conducting a CBDC trial is through a lottery program, where authorities airdrop an amount of digital yuan to selected winners. The first of such events occurred back in October 2020 in Shenzhen, followed by two more digital rmb airdrops in January 2021.

Other cities like Suzhou have also carried out lottery programs. In December, the citizens authorities distributed $3 million worth of digital yuan to 100,000 winners. The government conducted another airdrop in February 2021. In each airdrop event in Shenzhen and Suzhou, each winner received a red packet containing 200 yuan.

China’s CBDC tests have also involved the use of biometric hardware wallets , digital yuan ATMs , and mobile application.

The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours was $167.59 billion, which makes a 0.55% decrease.

High buying pressure from the two leading Crypto assets by market value has pushed the crypto market valuation near $2 trillion.

The flagship Crypto, Bitcoin, which was significantly responsible for this feat, has posted gains of more than 16% in the last 7 days, while Ethereum hit the $2,000 mark. At the time of writing this article:

Crypto pundits have cited that the heightened interest in these cryptos is emanating from a growing interest from institutional investors as seen from trend-following hedge funds, and lately, the powerful banks; coupled with credible reports hinting that Coinbase, the world’s most valuable online crypto trading platform, has gotten approval for its direct listing at the Nasdaq.

Experts also buttress on market indicators revealing that 78% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply is illiquid meaning that it is harder for a growing number of retail investors to have access to the prized Crypto at a fair value.

Adding credence to this bias, includes data from Glassnode revealing Bitcon’s number of Exchange Deposits (7d MA) just reached a 1-month low of 2,845.357, meaning there are fewer sellers of the world’s most popular crypto asset.

Previous 1-month low of 2,847.935 was observed on 26th March 2021.

Previous 1-month low of 2,847.935 was observed on 26 March 2021

View metric:https://t.co/v3uKq4dCjX pic.twitter.com/S8hZkdlnsi

— glassnode alerts (@glassnodealerts) April 2, 2021

In addition, Crypto assets have enjoyed exponential gains, as global financial markets become awash with record stimulus deals, triggered by global central banks using such dovish strategies in supporting the fragile global economy.

The incredible feats seen lately shows that the ever-changing financial market is enjoying strong buying pressures on the bias that global investors are keen on hedging against inflation-prone assets like currencies.

Olumide Adesina is a France-born Nigerian. He is a Certified Investment Trader, with more than 15 years of working expertise in Investment trading. Message Olumide on Twitter @tokunboadesina. He is a Member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Society.

I want to be part of it

Crypto traders and investors can trade these sports tokens on Crypto exchanges like Chiliz.net, Binance and others.

A growing number of football teams are now venturing into crypto for obvious reasons. With a Covid-19 battered global economy, football teams have had their stadium gates closed in compliance with lockdown measures aimed at curtailing the spread of the virus, leading to billions of dollars in losses.

Data from Deloitte, revealed that major football league clubs will have lost over €2 billion in revenue by the end of the 2020/21 season, including amounts foregone in respect of 2019/20, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily due to:

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first footballer to earn Crypto

Taking into account that the top 20 football clubs generated a combined €8.2 billion in 2019/20, down 12% on the prior season (€9.3 billion), it then becomes unsurprising that football clubs would be searching for other revenue channels and innovative strategies to keep their fans engaged.

Sports teams take advantage of the feeling of ownership exhibited by their fans. It is logical, therefore, for football teams to explore avenues that strengthen fan loyalty and their passion for the game.

Juventus the best-supported football club in Italy became the first team offering the world’s first fan token.

Holders of the Juventus Fan Tokens ($JUV) will be able to vote on some specific decisions made by the club, such as changes to the club’s jersey. They can also earn rewards while doing so, as well as access exclusive content and memorabilia.

READ: Ex-Real Madrid Striker, David Barral becomes first-ever footballer to be bought with Bitcoin

Recall that the world’s highly respected footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo collected about 770 Fan Tokens ahead of Juventus’ match against Benevento some weeks ago, as a way of marking his record-breaking goal milestone.

It is the first time a footballer has been rewarded with Crypto, which is becoming a prominent feature in the interaction of fans with the world’s most popular sport.

A growing number of fans holding the leading Italian football team’s token are obviously smiling to the bank. At the time of writing this article, the fan token has already generated returns of about 596.98% within a span of 11 months according to Coinmarketcap.

Barcelona FC has also seen its token rise by over 1,500% since its launch at $2; and now trades at about $35 (at the time of writing this article), posting massive gains to holders of such asset.

Manchester City Football Club is the latest football club exploring sports fan tokens. Registered Manchester City fans can use these tokens to get rewards or giveaways organized by the football club, play mobile games, access promos, and vote on the club’s polls.

READ: Cryptos likely to gain at least 1000% very soon

Besides Manchester City Football Club, Barcelona and Juventus, other clubs that have signed deals with Socios.com, a first-of-its-kind mobile app for football fans to vote on club-specific decisions, include AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.

Manchester City Football Club has announced that it will be rewarding all registered fans with free $CITY Tokens. Such offering is seen as a reward for fan loyalty and, therefore, increases the clubs’ engagement with their fans. Other teams like Liverpool Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United are also towing the path.

The use of crypto in sports will also address geographical challenges and trigger the global expansion of sports and teams. Football clubs are now using blockchain to facilitate better experiences for their fans and presently, Chiliz is the crypto used in buying these sports fan tokens.

Crypto traders and investors can trade these sports tokens on Crypto exchanges like Chiliz.net, Binance and just recently, HitBTC added AC Milan (ACM), Juventus (JUV) and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fan tokens to their platform.

We have successfully added AC Milan (ACM), Juventus (JUV) and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Fan Tokens to our platform.

Trade $ACM, $JUV and $PSG against $USDT, visit: https://t.co/nGfrMnquKU pic.twitter.com/DpeoEAoojJ

— HitBTC (@hitbtc) April 2, 2021

Nairametrics anticipates that such engagements with these football clubs via blockchain will open more economic opportunities and leverage the wider audience via collaboration with the industry’s global brands.

However, as this market segment grows and becomes increasingly concentrated, Crypto education also becomes necessary. Supporters of the most popular sport games need to adapt and work adaptively with their respective football teams in utilizing these tokens more efficiently rather than for just speculating price movements.

A crypto expert has highlighted 2 crypto assets that he expects would likely push higher in the near term.

Tyler Swope a highly revered crypto trader recently announced some relatively unknown crypto assets via his YouTube channel that he anticipates would likely push higher in the near term.

On the YouTube video, he started by endorsing Chainlink’s (LINK) node service provider LinkPool (LPL), adding credence to its strong structure within the niche segment it occupies.

His next pick was Alchemist Coin (MIST) a non-fungible token (NFT) project, on account that it could permit early users to get limited edition NFTs known as crucibles. These first version non-fungible tokens could help owners with major value in the future as the protocol grows, notes Swope.

READ: Investor buys first Crypto artwork for $70 million

“The proposal is overwhelming, yes, and ended today. It proposed, that v1 (first version) crucibles be limited to those using the terminal or PowerShell… a.k.a technical user. Once the frontend UI (user interface) launches, those users will get v2 (second version) crucibles using that interface. The crucibles, are NFTs, thus having a v1 limited edition could be a valuable thing down the road.”

Davis, a top crypto strategist also highlighted his bias that altcoins could provide investors with incredible returns and why investors should not just focus on the flagship crypto.

“2021 is seriously one of the biggest opportunities of your financial life. The potential for life-changing money to change your financial destiny in 2021 is incredible.

“But here is the truth, if you just buy Bitcoin, you are not going to see the exponentially huge gains. You will get decent returns but if you want to make the big money you got to invest in altcoins.”

Bitcoin trader and analyst Willy Woo says a growing Bitcoin supply crisis will launch the asset towards a multi-trillion dollar evaluation.

In a new interview on Real Vision, Woo explains that by following the movement of Bitcoin into and out of exchanges, it is clear that BTC supplies are drying up.

The analyst expects the market to see a supply crunch even more drastic than the one which caused the flagship cryptocurrency to rise in price by roughly 2,000% in 2017.

“We can see this from tracking the flows of coins out of the exchanges, where typically people speculate or buy and sell their coins, and they have a set inventory, some of which is allocated for speculation. We’ve just seen an unprecedented amount of depletion of that inventory.

If you look back in the 2017 bull market, we saw like a five month depletion of inventory, and that was enough to propel the bull market of 2017 right up to the $20,000 [mark] from what initially was about $1,000 to $1,500 when the inventory depletion ended, and now we’re in this zone of the Lehman’s 12 months of inventory depletion.”

As the market runs out of Bitcoin and institutional investors continue to learn of its benefits, Woo expects the market cap to balloon and well surpass that of gold, with the price of a single BTC surpassing the $2 million mark.

“Once you get a glimpse of something that’s easy to access like Bitcoin without the trouble of holding assets like real estate, it’s going to take a big chunk out of that. There’s no way Bitcoin is going to stop at the market cap of gold, which is $10 trillion, it’s going to go a lot higher, which means that we’re going to be going into the millions of dollars per coin, which is hard to believe right now but if you look at the sheer fundamentals and stretch it off over the long term, that’s how cheap Bitcoin is today.”

Woo also anticipates that as Bitcoin matures and the asset gains a larger share of the market, it is unlikely that future Bitcoin bear markets will be as harsh or volatile as those of the past.

“There is a general trend downwards and there’s no crazy predictable trend downwards in volatility so I think actually, we’re due to start to drop down into the lower volatility range that – well, I don’t have the charts right on hand, but I think it will surprise a lot of people how low the volatility can drop and beyond a certain part of size of capital base, volatility drops to zero because it becomes the new monetary base.

If it does become this unit of account, obviously there’s different variations on that theme that could be a basket of assets that becomes the new monetary base but ultimately, the volatility will drop very, very low because there’s the new monetary standard part of it.”

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Tithi Luadthong

On the exterior, cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Litecoin seemingly have many common features as they are both decentralized crypto coins, but they differ in many ways. Fiat currencies like the US Dollar depend upon central banks backing for different factors as speculation of legitimacy, controlling circulation and value, cryptocurrencies are free of centralized authority. Cryptocurrencies are reliant on the cryptographic transparent network and integrity. Litecoin was released in 2011 by Charlie Lee, the Google engineer- who addresses Litecoin as Bitcoin’s lite version. The developers designated Bitcoin the gold status and Litecoin the silver.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency, cryptocurrency, or a digital currency, created in January 2009 – It is completely virtual or online cash. One can purchase goods and services with bitcoin, but some countries have completely banned it. However, more and more companies are buying it today, including PayPal, which started accepting BTC last October. Its ideas are set out in whitepaper by a pseudonymous individual or team called Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin and Litecoin share the same Proof of work for their ecosystems. Both the cryptocurrencies are mined, i.e., they are generated, then authenticated, and finally added to the blockchain or the public ledger.

Gold and other precious metals like silver, etc., are good stores of value as they have a perpetual shelf life, and so is a nation’s currency.

According to the Economy Forecast Agency or EFA, as per the long-term Litecoin price forecast , Litecoin is predicted to rise to $260 in January 2022 and go down to approximately $100 by the end of October 2022. It will increase to 2023 in the first quarter in March to $193 and $174 in January.

Bitcoin is a powerful coin and is expected to grow astronomically. It will go beyond USD 100,000 to one million USD per BTC in the time to come.

Bitcoin and Litecoin are both decentralized cryptocurrencies, but the difference in other aspects is the price, mining time, store of value, and predicted futures. Bitcoin enjoys a store of value, and Litecoin is presumably expected to go up somewhat. There is a cap of 21 million on Bitcoin mining, and Litecoin will be mined to 84 million. Litecoin is faster and can make many transactions simultaneously, whereas Bitcoin cannot. It takes approximately 9 minutes to mine a bitcoin and only 2.5 for Litecoin. Even though Litecoin has an edge on Bitcoin technology-wise, Bitcoin’s price is expected to go up beyond $100,000.

Rachel’s note: On Wednesday night, our colleague Teeka Tiwari hosted one of the most critical presentations of his career.

For those who don’t know, Teeka’s been pounding the table on bitcoin for years – while so-called experts in the mainstream mocked him. But now, bitcoin’s officially broken into the mainstream… hitting all-time highs this year.

Teeka says that’s opening the door to even bigger money-making opportunities in the crypto space. And on Wednesday, he pulled back the curtain on the trillion-dollar windfall he sees ahead.

It’s something nobody in the mainstream investing world sees… something the media isn’t reporting… and something no member of the financial elite wants you to find out.

More than 45,000 people tuned in to watch… and learned all the details on how to capture some of the gains for themselves. If you missed it, we made a replay available for you here.

Then, make sure to check out Teeka’s essay below.

By Teeka Tiwari, editor, Palm Beach Daily

Since 2016, I’ve been fighting a long battle to educate everyone about the value of bitcoin.

Over that time, I’ve had my reputation impugned… been maligned and ridiculed… and even received hate mail for my conviction in bitcoin.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been laughed at by your family or friends just for talking about the idea of bitcoin.

There were some tough times. From the heights of the 2017 crypto bull market to the depths of the 2018 Crypto Winter… I asked my readers to keep the faith and let time do the heavy lifting.

And those who stuck with me should congratulate themselves… Because we’re starting to reap the rewards of that faith.

Not only was bitcoin the best-performing asset class of 2020… it also obliterated its old highs. We saw bitcoin rise 308% in 2020 – and recently it was as high as $61,600.

Here’s why I feel vindicated: Bitcoin is now the most valuable financial service in the world by market cap. This is something I’ve been predicting for years.

Today, bitcoin’s value is more than $1 trillion. That’s more than the market caps of Visa ($478 billion)… JPMorgan Chase ($469 billion)… Mastercard ($361 billion)… PayPal ($290 billion)… and Bank of America ($341 billion).

Friends, I want you to understand how far we’ve come since 2016. It’s just a sea change in sentiment.

Five years ago, people called bitcoin a “fraud,” a “scam,” or a “Ponzi scheme.” But I said that if you could have faith in a future that’s different than the one the mainstream media is portraying… you’d see a day when institutional money would flood into bitcoin.

That’s because my research suggested bitcoin would become a bedrock reserve asset for institutional investors. And if you could just hold onto that vision and be patient… you’d see it come to pass.

That’s exactly where we are right now.

So the question now is, where does bitcoin go from here?

Right now, we have a brand-new area of demand for bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset. It’s incredible. Corporations are sitting on trillions of dollars of capital. So even a small weighting to bitcoin can have a profound effect on the price.

For instance, ARK Invest put out a recent report on crypto. According to the report, non-traditional assets like real estate and emerging markets make up 5–6% of institutional investors’ portfolios.

So if pension funds and banks allocated a similar weighting to bitcoin, the report suggests bitcoin’s price could go to a half-million dollars.

Now, will that happen overnight? No. Will that happen in a straight line? No, absolutely not.

But we’re already seeing big institutions buy bitcoin. Back in December – when bitcoin was only about $18,000 – 169-year-old insurance giant MassMutual bought $100 million of the crypto…

And last month Tesla announced it had bought $1.5 billion worth of the crypto when it was just under $38,000… So the shift is underway.

As I’ve told my readers all along, what’s more important than anything else is understanding an asset’s trajectory. So I invest my intellectual capital in determining what the trajectory of an asset is… not the exact timing.

I’ve made a lot of money, not by knowing the specific date when something will happen, but by placing my faith in my research that shows me what will realistically occur over time. And not over 100 years, 50 years, or even 20 years. But within a reasonable frame of time we can all survive long enough to enjoy… just like we’re enjoying right now.

So as I look out through 2021, it’s very pro-bitcoin.

We’ve reached the tipping point among professional investment managers, where they’re running the risk of potentially getting fired if they don’t own bitcoin. And that’s a complete 180 from five years ago.

Heck, just two years ago, it was a career-ending risk to put your neck out and own bitcoin, or even talk about owning bitcoin. And that’s completely flipped now.

Look at MicroStrategy, which bought $1.125 billion of bitcoin for its corporate treasury and continues to purchase more… The stock price is up more than 400% since acquiring that initial bitcoin.

Now, I can guarantee you corporate boardrooms across the world − not just the country − are paying attention to that. Everyone is thinking about this. So this is another demand-driver we need to model into the price of bitcoin.

Even in my wildly bullish dreams, I didn’t think corporate treasurers would be prepared to put bitcoin in their corporate treasury this early.

I figured we’d probably have to see $40,000−50,000 bitcoin before they’d even consider it, because that’s when the market would have reached $1 trillion.

But here we are today… and we have major companies with billion-dollar market caps holding Bitcoin in their corporate treasuries.

It’s more evidence that, in my opinion, bitcoin will continue to be the most valuable financial service in the world.

Let the Game Come to You!

Teeka Tiwari Editor, Palm Beach Daily

P.S. Bitcoin has reached escape velocity – and everybody sees it.

Billionaires are in a frenzy buying it… The world’s largest payment networks are adopting it… And Wall Street’s most respected firms are rushing to get in. We are at a “tipping point,” to put it in the words of Citigroup.

But what nobody sees… what the media isn’t reporting… and what no member of the financial elite wants you to find out is this…

Behind the scenes, the smart money has now begun to go all in on what I consider to be Crypto’s Next Trillion-Dollar Coin.

Back in 2016, I recommended bitcoin, what became crypto’s first trillion-dollar coin by market cap. That’s why last week, I revealed what I believe will be the next $1 trillion crypto for free.

There’s still time to catch up. Just click here to stream the recording… you don’t want to miss out.

As we witness the meteoric price rises of the world’s first cryptocurrency, many more investors have begun to take notice. Everyone is now seriously considering jumping onto the crypto market bandwagon – and rightly so. For the majority, the Bitcoin ship has already sailed, and current values are out of reach. At the time of writing this, Bitcoin is trading comfortably around the $59,000 mark. This is an astounding ten times the amount it was worth just one year ago!

So, with that in mind, financial opportunists are on the hunt for “The Next Bitcoin.” As there is so much potential profit to be gained from smart cryptocurrency investment, it comes as no surprise that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related terms have been consistently ranked one of the most searched on Google for the past few years.

But choosing the right cryptocurrency can be a daunting task. In the twelve years since the launch of the original, over 4 000 cryptocurrencies have spawned, and a whole new market has been created. With so many to choose from, it can be challenging to decide which one to invest in.

This article will examine one such cryptocurrency that many believe to be a possible contender in taking the mantle of “The Next Bitcoin” – we’re talking about Litecoin.

In 2011, an accomplished former Google employee and computer scientist named Charlie Lee created the first-ever Bitcoin fork, which resulted in the creation of Litecoin. Its inception was inspired by Charlie Lee’s vision to improve upon what he felt was lacking in the Bitcoin system.

Most of the protocols of Litecoin are adapted from the Bitcoin protocol, with some significant changes in the blockchain and mining implementation.

Consequently, the changes allow Litecoin to reduce the block time to an average of 2.5 minutes as opposed to the average block time of 10 minutes for Bitcoin. This all translates to a faster transaction rate than Bitcoin. Litecoin also has lower transaction fees than Bitcoin.

Furthermore, because Litecoin utilizes a mining algorithm called Scrypt, mining for Litecoin is much more power-efficient and accessible. The intensive memory algorithm forces calculations to be performed sequentially. This prevents monopolization of mining by those with higher computational power and application-specific integrated circuits, thus leveling the playing field. Therefore, successful mining is much fairer, and the lower equipment requirements are attractive for new and smaller miners.

Additionally, the total supply cap for Litecoin is 84 million, four times that of Bitcoin’s total supply.

Due to its close relationship with Bitcoin and the many similarities, combined with the reduced fees and smaller value – Litecoin is commonly perceived as the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold.”

According to 3Commas on Litecoin predictions and other reputable sources, the majority of forecasts from crypto experts seem to be generally positive. For the most part, the analysis seems to indicate that there will be an uptrend for Litecoin in 2021.

There is some variance in the possible price for Litecoin. This is due to the volatility of cryptocurrencies and the inexact nature of predicting future outcomes. But as you will gather from the following summary of predictions, things are looking up for Litecoin:

Litecoin has proven to stand the test of time as it has consistently continued to feature within the top 10 most popular cryptocurrencies for the better part of a decade. This evidence of longevity is an indication of security in investment. Furthermore, the close relationship with Bitcoin gives it an edge over other cryptocurrencies as price trends for Litecoin tend to follow that of its predecessor.

Another point of importance is public awareness and widespread use, both of which Litecoin also has an advantage over other cryptocurrencies. Currently, Litecoin is accepted by over 2000 merchants and stores worldwide – that number is set to increase. This makes it a progressively established form of payment, following in the footsteps of Bitcoin. In addition, the Litecoin brand has gradually been thrust into public consciousness through promotional sponsorships with high-profile partners, most notably those in the sports industry.

Litecoin also continues to improve its system, with the latest update just last year seeing the implementation of MimbleWimble Testnet that enhances the confidentiality and fungibility of transactions. Founder and chief Charlie Lee and his team of highly accomplished experts have expressed ambitions and motivations in developing Litecoin further, indicating that there could be more to come from the cryptocurrency in the near future.

Carolyn Coley is a blockchain reporter. She joined Smartereum after graduating from UC Berkeley in 2018.

At the time of this writing, CME (Get Ratings)’s price is down $0 (0%) from the hour prior. This is a reversal of the price action on the previous hour, in which price moved up. From a hourly perspective, the market looks fairly choppy; clear trends aren’t showing up on the 20, 50 and 100 hour timeframes. The moving averages on the hourly timeframe suggest a choppiness in price, as the 20, 50, 100 and 200 are all in a mixed alignment — meaning the trend across timeframes is inconsistent, indicating a potential opportunity for rangebound traders.

Currently, CME’s price is up $1.86 (0.91%) from the day prior. This is a reversal of the price action on the previous day, in which price moved down. As for the trend on the daily timeframe, we see the clearest trend on the 100 day timeframe. The moving averages on the daily timeframe suggest a bullishness in price, as the 20, 50, 100 and 200 are all in a bullish alignment — meaning the shorter durations are above the longer duration averages, implying a sound upward trend. Cme Group Inc’s price action over the past 90 days can be seen via the chart below.

News traders keeping an eye on CME may find value in this recent story:

Bitcoin Is Trading Near Record-High Again But Analyst Says We Are Staring At A Meltdown

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent gains may be short-lived and “the whole rally in crypto is getting very long in the tooth,” according to Boris Schlossberg, a leading foreign exchange expert. What Happened: “I think we’re very, very close to perhaps an intermediate-term top here. A little bit of a correction is certainly due at this point,” Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Trading Nation.” BTC traded 0.54% lower at $59,354.38 over the past 24 hours at press time, but was up 11.2% over the past week, indicating a recovery. It has an all-time high of $61,683, hit last month. See also: How to Buy Bitcoin (BTC) Bitcoin’s Recent Gains: The cryptocurrency’s recent gains came after PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) said it will allow its U.S. customers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay at millions of online merchants around the globe. PayPal’s move came a day after payments giant Visa Inc (NYSE: V) said it would allow payments to be settled directly via cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain. Schlossberg noted that Bitcoin’s high degree of volatility will likely mean transactions on platforms such as PayPal’s will be “infinitesimally small” compared to regular currency. However, he feels Bitcoin is a better store of value than gold. See Also: Why Is Ethereum Surging, Outperforming Bitcoin Today? CME Group’s Plan: Further, Schlossberg said that derivative exchange CME Group Inc.’s (NASDAQ: CME) plan to launch Micro Bitcoin futures contracts on its platform in early May could rattle bitcoin’s price even if investors like it or not. The Micro Bitcoin futures will be one-tenth the size of one Bitcoin. Schlossberg noted that Bitcoin topped out the last time CME launched bitcoin futures in late 2017. Matt Maley, chief marketing strategist at Miller Tabak, said in the same “Trading Nation” interview that if Bitcoin moves to the downside below $52,000, its going to be a “big warning flag” and give the cryptocurrency its first lower low of the year. Maley added it Bitcoin breaks above its recent highs of $61,000, it “should see another leg higher.” However, he agreed with Schlossberg that bitcoin is going to see a lot more big declines along its way in a very volatile session. Read Next: 5 Best-Performing Cryptocurrencies Of Q1 (No — Bitcoin, Dogecoin Don’t Make The Cut) See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaTesla Will Be Employing A Lot More People At Giga Texas Than It Thought It WouldCramer Says Forget Tech And Look To These Sectors In Q2© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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One of the industry’s most voiced crypto advocates, Mark Cuban, explained why Ethereum is similar to a true currency, while Bitcoin is a suitable alternative to gold. The industry has been comparing Bitcoin to the yellow metal for some years now, and Cuban’s belief might have confirmed the widespread adoption of Bitcoin as the metal’s alternative. The billionaire, who co-owns Shark Tanks and Dallas Maverick, revealed his opinion in Delphi Podcast’s interview.

Some months back, the entrepreneur had helped the basketball team’s fans purchase sports merchandise on the platform with Bitcoin due to the crypto’s growing demand in the digital asset industry. The businessman revealed how he is excited about cryptos due to some of the sectors’ growth, such as DeFi and NFTs.

He explained some unique aspects of cryptocurrencies, such as smart contracts and their decentralized nature. He added that this means that no one is in charge and that the governance is different from the traditional platforms. Aside from his excitement about DeFI and NFTs, he believes that the Ethereum network is similar to the internet’s boom in early 2000.

Cuban explained that when the internet came, many things began to happen in the analog world. His love for Ethereum did not change the fact that he has more Bitcoin. The billionaire’s digital asset holding is around 60% Bitcoin, 30% Ethereum, and 10% of other assets.

Cuban believes that Bitcoin is a value store, which is similar to Bitcoin’s characteristics. The business owner believes that Bitcoin is a suitable alternative to the yellow metal as they are both used to hedge against inflation. Cuban explained that with Bitcoin, people can make transfers and can store value.

He added that Bitcoin is taking a huge share from the gold market as new investors leave gold to get Bitcoin exposure. The entrepreneur revealed that its value store feature is why he owns Bitcoin , but that cannot be compared to the internet. Since he compared Ethereum to the internet, the billionaire means that Ethereum might have more potentials than Bitcoin.

Cuban has a controversial relationship with Bitcoin some years ago, where he was seen criticizing the digital asset for its lack of value. He even said he preferred to have bananas compared to Bitcoin some time ago, and that shows how he has changed his opinion since then.

The businessman had gradually changed his opinion about Bitcoin and had revealed that he still has some cryptos he purchased during Coinbase’s early days. Coinbase is one of America’s prominent exchanges, making it more known to the US crowd. The business could easily be called one of the biggest crypto influencers within the region.

Interestingly, the businessman did not reveal what the 10% of his portfolio holds. Still, many people believe that he has Dogecoin as part of his portfolio as the coin currently makes a wave. The digital asset industry continues to record new gains as the market goes bullish while attracting more investors.

The digital asset space has been recording some new gains, following the current market situation that positively affects more digital assets. The asset had reached the $60,000 level but fell slightly when it failed to move above the range. This shows that the momentum is weak, and the bulls have to be active to take the mark to another level.

Besides Bitcoin’s growth, other coins have been adding new gains, which confirms the market’s bullish activities. The victory around the $60,000 mark was short-lived even with the $58,000 support, which prevented it from recording more significant falls. Bitcoin had struggled before achieving that level, which didn’t last long, disappointing the market. The crypto’s next level would be around the $60,000 to record more gains up the charts.

The asset’s current resistance point holds at around $60,000, $61,000 and $62,000, while the support gives around the $40,000, $39,000 and $38,000 marks. Fortunately, the $58,000 support level still holds the coin in place despite losing its recently gotten high. The support has helped the crypto achieve some notable level, and it still continues to push it past some difficult resistance points. For the crypto to move above the $60,000 mark, the bulls have to defend the current support, which would make the uptrend easier to achieve.

The asset has successfully taken the $60,000 mark, but the current problem is moving above that level as the mark remains a notable resistance point for the asset. Once the coin retakes the mark, it might see some difficulties around the $61,000 mark, which would likely cause more unexpected falls. Charts show that the asset could hit as high as $70,000 once the $62,000 support is in place. It’s safe to note that the crypto is currently around the overbought region, which means that it might not rally due to the situation.

In other news, South Korea has recorded some notable gains from Bitcoin gotten from criminals. Criminals use the decentralized platform to make anonymous transfers, and such funds could be for laundering or terrorism. This is why many governments are agitating for regulating the digital asset space to ensure that criminals would not use it for malign and illicit purposes.

Asides from South Korea’s crypto holding, America has also sold Bitcoin gotten from criminals through auctioning. The country has lost millions in profits for selling the crypto around that time range when it could have been sold for much more.

It’s safe to note that the coin has been unstable and has been hitting below and above the $60,000 level, and this shows that the coin might be on the verge of a breakout. The asset’s global acceptability has helped it attract more buyers and, in turn, moved it to the next level. While Bitcoin’s future remains unpredictable, its current level above the $59,000 mark shows that the bulls would likely retake the $60,000 before a possible surge or fall would come in place.

The price for Ripple (CCC: XRP-USD ) surged on March 22 after the cryptocurrency’s parent, Ripple Labs , caught a break in its lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn stated that investors outside of Ripple Labs were not trading illegal securities. As a result, cryptocurrency exchanges can resume listing XRP-USD tokens. 

While the XRP-USD price jumped on the news, it was back down below 48 cents by March 25. At the time of publication, it’s trading around 57 cents. Like most cryptocurrencies, volatility is its strong suit. 

Ripple Labs recently produced a report about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that suggested XRP-USD is a good example of a neutral bridge asset that governments can use to get money into the hands of the unbanked quickly and efficiently. 

While I do not doubt that cryptocurrencies can play a major role in the future of banking, as an investment, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency remains on the outside looking in. If you’re going to move some of your greenbacks into a cryptocurrency, XRP-USD would not be my first choice. 

In my last article about Ripple, I stated that it faced a steep, uphill climb both as a company and a cryptocurrency. The judge’s comments aside, I still feel this way.

The cryptocurrency is up 141% year-to-date. However, it’s a long way off the all-time high of $3.40. There’s no question those who bought at the beginning of 2021 are happy with the outcome.

The judge’s actual comments should provide hope for those inside and outside Ripple Labs. 

“My understanding about XRP is that not only does it have a currency value but it has a Utility and that utility distinguishes it from Bitcoin and Ether,” the judge stated in the most recent court session for the SEC’s lawsuit against the company. 

So, if the judge’s assumption is taken at face value, both XRP-USD and Ripple Labs have a future. 

The problem is the SEC finds that the people behind Ripple Labs were the only ones committing illegal securities trading. If this is found to be true, the damage to the company’s reputation might be impossible to recover from. 

Were the company to disappear, what would happen to the cryptocurrency? 

My InvestorPlace colleague, Josh Enomoto, who actually owns XRP-USD, argues that if the company can’t successfully prove that Ripple is decentralized , it’ll be in a world of hurt. 

“[T]he SEC will continue to hammer the centralization argument. Honestly, it doesn’t look good that the protocol appears centralized — this was long a criticism of the Ripple coin,” Enomoto wrote on March 26.  

“Here’s why it’s important: If Ripple distributed XRP-USD for the sole purpose of raising capital for its businesses and giving the impression that investors could potentially profit from a valuation rise, how is that different from a publicly-traded security?”

He finishes by suggesting that Ripple Labs’ best argument is that the Ripple token was always intended to be a conduit for undertaking financial transactions quickly and efficiently, thereby providing actual utility to the tokens’ holders. 

Needless to say, the future remains up in the air until the SEC lawsuit gets sorted. 

If you’re going to invest in a cryptocurrency, my opinion is you either buy Bitcoin (CCC: BTC-USD ) or Ethereum (CCC: ETH-USD ). Bitcoin remains the only true example that possesses a true store-of-value ; Ethereum, while not a store-of-value, is likely to continue to appreciate because of its utilitarian nature. DeFi (decentralized finance) will capture the world thanks to Ethereum.

In February, I suggested that owners of Ethereum might want to get while the getting’s good because its valuation had become a bit frothy. At the time, it was trading around $1,846. Down about 1% over the past six weeks, it could certainly fall further. Especially given that ETH-USD has appreciated about 30% more than Bitcoin over the past year. 

I’m a huge proponent of DeFi. Therefore, I’m always going to follow cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum that contribute to the increased use by financial parties to efficiently complete frictionless transactions.

Both Ethereum and Bitcoin provide tangible value in their own way. I think Ripple has to figure out how to be both a store-of-value and utilitarian in nature. That, or opt for one and stick to that. 

In my opinion, a utility play is the better way to go. Until then, you’re better off buying BTC-USD or ETH-USD if you’re looking for a cryptocurrency to own.

On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. 

Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where he’s appeared include  InvestorPlace , The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A new atomic-swap powered wallet, Liquality, just released a feature for users to spend bitcoin and other coins at online crypto merchants without having to manage addresses or QR codes.

Liquality is a browser extension wallet like Metamask, except instead of supporting only ether and its tokens, Liquality can hold bitcoin, ether, crypto dollars like DAI, USDT, USDC and UNI, and now “bitcoin DeFi” tokens from the RSK network. 

The ConsenSys-backed wallet launched last autumn and allows users to swap coins in their wallet, thanks to an old trick known as “on-chain atomic swaps.” These swaps use complex cryptography to trade assets from different blockchains between two or more parties without a user having to relinquish their keys to a counterparty.

For Liquality, this means its users can trade between bitcoin and ether (or crypto dollars like USDC) right on the wallet.

“Our goal has always been to give people secure and easy tools to interact with this new digital economy,” the wallet’s marketing director, Alex Min, told CoinDesk.

With this update, the wallet now also provides “one-click” transactions with popular bitcoin-accepting gift-card vendor Bitrefill and payment portal OpenNode, among others. When checking out using these services, the wallet automatically fetches the receiving address for the user.

The one-click pay feature works with any wallet that has integrated URI schemes for bitcoin, Min told CoinDesk. This includes popular open-source processor BTCPay Server, as well.

“We believe this upcoming release will not only improve the in-browser bitcoin experience for users, merchants and app developers (most of whom are still transacting on-chain), but also help the nascent Bitcoin web app ecosystem grow with an easy-to-use-and-develop-with, in-browser hot wallet,” Min said.

Liquality currently acts as the counterparty for the wallet’s swaps. Min told CoinDesk the wallet processed $4 million in swap volume in March from 4,000 active weekly users. 

When asked if Liquality will look to adding Lightning Network support in the future, Min said it’s not high up on the wallet’s roadmap.

In lieu of Lightning, Liquality recently integrated with RSK, a Bitcoin sidechain built by IOV Labs, and supports the dollar on chain (DOC) crypto dollar, a dollar-pegged coin which can be used on the Sovryn decentralized lending market built on RSK.

These networks offer cheaper, faster transactions than Bitcoin’s primary network using special trade-offs and tricks; Lightning is a tech stack built on top of bitcoin that is trustless and non custodial, while RSK is an independent network run by a federation of trusted counterparties.

As crazy as it may sound, especially when looking at Bitcoin’s (BTC) meteoric rise over the past year, but we think there is a very strong case for Bitcoin blowing past $60,000 and $70,000 on its way to hitting $80,000. At the core of the argument is Bitcoin’s rising usage, the ever-increasing hash-rate, and the dwindling supply but there is more. Bitcoin is spreading through the economy like wildfire and on the verge of an exponential surge in demand. We thought it was crazy when Bitcoin was heading to $59,000 and now look what it's doing.  1) Goldman Sachs To Begin Offering Crypto - Investment bank Goldman Sachs announced it would begin offering Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to wealthy clients in the second quarter. While not limited to Bitcoin the news is a boost to BTC as well as the entire cryptomarket. Goldman Sachs is now the second major Wall Street bank to offer digital assets and will likely not be the last. With more than $1.8 trillion in assets under management, it wouldn’t be hard for Goldman Sachs to move the Bitcoin market on its own. 

2) Paypal To Start Accepting Cryptocurrency For Payments - PayPal emerged onto the cryptocurrency scene last year when it began facilitating the ownership of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major coins. Now the company is upping its impact on the market by allowing clients to use cryptocurrency to pay for services. Now, Checkout with Crypto will automatically appear as an option for those holding digital assets. The service will automatically convert the digital currency to fiat at checkout making it the easiest and most mainstream method of using Bitcoin that we know of. And PayPal has over 300 million clients and 20 million active merchant accounts. 

3) CME Group Launches Bitcoin Mini Futures - Pending regulatory approval, the CME Group is launching a Bitcoin Mini-Future. The new contract will be worth one-tenth of a Bitcoin and allow institutions and traders another method to hedge their crypto holdings and profit from near-term price movements. The takeaway for us is that there is enough demand for the product to spur the move. 

"Since the launch of our Bitcoin futures contract in 2017, we have seen steady, ongoing growth of liquidity and market participation in our crypto derivatives, especially among institutional traders," said Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products. "The introduction of Micro Bitcoin futures responds directly to demand for smaller-sized contracts from a broad array of clients and will offer even more choice and precision in how participants can trade regulated Bitcoin futures in a transparent and efficient manner at CME Group."

4) Chipotle Mexican Grill Gives Away Bitcoin - Chipotle Mexican Grill is embracing Bitcoin as a way to connect with younger clientele. The company is going to launch its “Burritos or Bitcoin” game next week and will give away up to $100,000 in Bitcoin with 3 grand-prize $25,000 winners. Other winners will receive burritos but that’s not the point. The point is that Bitcoin is gaining the attention of businesses and investors at all levels and is seen as a means of attracting business. 

5) Mogo, Inc Launches Bitcoin Cashback Mortgage - Mogo, Inc is a Canadian fintech with its fingers firmly in the Bitcoin pie. The company already supports buying and selling cryptocurrency as well as a cashback feature it will now apply to mortgages. The new offering puts up to $3,100 in a Bitcoin rewards account for those using the app to take out a mortgage. The main attraction for Mogo users is that Bitcoin rewards have tangible value apart from the Mogo app and may appreciate in time. 

6) The Technical Outlook For Bitcoin Is Bullish -  Bitcoin may be approaching a top but we don’t think it’s there yet. In our view, the past few months have produced a bullish flag on the weekly chart that could take BTCUSD up to $90,000 before too long. Assuming we’re right and BTC does confirm this pattern the flagpole is a whopping $30,000 which puts price action right at the $90,000 mark.